Vornskr Squadron
by Joshua Stephens
Summary: An ordinary escort mission that might not be so ordinary after all. Set 510 years after Return of the Jedi.


Star Wars: Vornskr Squadron

_**Dramatis Personae**_

_Vornskr One/Vornskr Leader - Tripp Gonarr, human male from _

_Corellia._

_Vornskr Two - Tiov Warben, human male from Taanab._

_Vornskr Three - Ulusk Yurben, Sullustan male from Sullust._

_Vornskr Four - Hulik Vel Driskz, _

_Vornskr Five - Kylu Galarhn, human male from Coruscant._

_Vornskr Six - Jewl Lowahst, human female from _

_Vornskr Seven - Galak Freuv, Devaronian male from Nar _

_Shaddaa._

_Vornskr Eight - Tyrel Gohfree, human male from Coruscant._

_Vornskr Nine - Venu Tonuda,_

_Vornskr Ten - Yhn Whq,_

_Vornskr Eleven - Brugg Zebryski, _

_Vornskr Twelve - Kayli Rawara, Twi'lek female from Ryloth._

_Captain of the Jaded Bantha - Haft Drunn, human male from _

_Corellia._

**Chapter I**_  
_

"Vornskr Squadron, report." The craft's comm sounded, "Vornskr Two reporting, Vornskr Leader."

"Vornskr Three reporting."

"Four, here."

"Five ready."

"Six here."

"Nine, good."

"Seven, ready to go," And on down the line, though Vornskr Eight, Tyrel Gohfree, was not present, due to family crisis – the Coruscant native's wife was in labor with their first, a son. Nearly everyone in the squadron, myself not the least, envied him the leave, for our present mission was a dull one. Flying escort was always a bore, especially over long hyperspace trips, escorting a freighter carrying plastisheet card stock.

When we reached our destination, a small system in the Outer Rim, we would have to escort the freighter, the _Jaded Bantha_, to the landing platform and then back to the hyperspace jump point. What tremendous fun. We had just jumped to lightspeed from Coruscant, it seemed, when the sheet of light outside the starfighter cockpit abruptly faded back into star-lines, then into individual stars. I checked my navicomputer, thinking to myself that unless my sense of time was seriously messed up, we certainly hadn't been in hyperspace nearly long enough to have already reached Rowaht. Sure enough, the nav-comp showed us as being in the Qi'lok system, not far from Arbra.

Though my X-wing's sensors showed no hostiles, I thought it better to be on guard. "Vornskrs, form up. Three, Nine, and Seven, stay with the _Jaded Bantha_. Four, Eleven, and Six, fall back a bit and keep an eye on your sensors. Ten, Five, fall to either side. Two and Twelve, you're with me." Receiving an affirmative click from all pilots, I ranged ahead of the freighter, searching for some clue as to what had pulled us from hyperspace, with Vornskrs Two and Twelve on either wing. Vornskr Two, my usual wingman and my best friend since Imperial Academy, Tiov Warben, said over the comm, "What do you think happened, One, bad calculations?"

"If it was, then we're incredibly lucky, Two. Too lucky to believe. I was thinking maybe an Interdictor, but I've got nothing on the scanners. Some other form of false gravity field projection, maybe," I replied. "Some other form of gravity projection? I didn't know there was anything capable of that, besides an Interdictor," said Vornskr Twelve, Kayli Rawara, our only Twi'lek pilot, and female as well. "I've seen a few others before, Twelve, but they're usually, in my experience, too bulky, and use too much power, for us to have nothing on our sensors," I responded. "I just don't know. Whatever is going on, though, it's probably better to stick relatively close to the _Bantha_ until we figure this out. Twelve, head back to the rest of of the squadron. Me and Two will scout ahead a bit further."

"Yes sir." she said over the comm as the X-wing off my starboard wing fell away, side-slipping, turning, and heading back toward the freighter we were escorting. "Two, keep an eye on your sensors. Have your astromech check for any anomalies in the gravity fields of the planets in the system."

"Yes sir, will do."

We continued, venturing further into the system, searching for anything out of the ordinary. The comm buzzed, "One, this is Ten, we have hostiles, approaching fast. Looks like Uglies."

"On our way, Ten. Do not engage unless they fire the first shot. I want to see if they'll talk."

Quickly reversing our direction of travel, Tiov and I shot back toward the freighter at near top speed. As we reached the rest of Vornskr Squadron and the _Jaded Bantha_, I saw the Uglies through the cockpit of my X-wing, fast closing on us. Setting my comm on an open frequency, I addressed the Uglies, "This is Commander Tripp Gonarr, leader of Vornskr Squadron, of the New Republic Fleet. To whom do I speak?" The response, sadly, did not really surprise me. "That is really none of your concern, Commander. All that need concern you is that we are here for the cargo. Hand it over peacefully, and no one has to get hurt."

Just then the captain of the _Jaded Bantha_, Haft Drunn, spoke over the comm, on a private channel. "What's going on here, Commander?" I quickly flipped my comm over to speak to him, making the pirate wait for a reply. "Captain, we have a situation. Prepare for a fight. If things go bad here, you need to try to get away from whatever gravity well we're in here as quickly as possible, and jump back to Coruscant. For now, just sit tight. If you need to break for it, I'll give you a signal." "What sort of si-" I cut him off in mid-reply, "Just wait, Captain." Readjusting my comm equipment, I then replied to the still closing pirate leader. "The cargo? This freighter is carrying nothing but plastisheet card stock. Unless you know something I don't, this seems like an awful lot of trouble just for a lifetime supply of greeting cards."

"I do indeed know something you do not, Commander. Evidently the New Republic thought it best that the grunts not know they're protecting billions of credits in experimental hyperdrive parts." He – at least the distorted voice coming over the comm sounded male – said, any smugness in his voice rendered unnoticable by the distortion of the old comm equipment.

"I believe you have the wrong freighter. If you leave the system now you may go freely."

"I don't think so, Commander. Are you going to surrender the cargo, or will I be forced to remove it from your possession forcefully?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I guess you'll just have to try and take it from us. Though why you'd choose Uglies for that job I have no idea."

"They may not look like much, but I'm sure by the time we leave, with that freighter in tow, soon to be much richer, you will be possessed of a much greater respect for their prowess. I aregret that it has come to this, as I've heard that your squadron has shown promise, but such is life. I would have been quite disappointed had you simply surrendered, anyway. I do love a good fight."

Realizing the conversation was at an end, I fired off orders to my squadron. "Two, you're with Twelve; Four, with Eleven; Five, with Ten; Nine, with Seven; and Three, you're with Six. I'll fly alone. Nine and Six, you and your wingmates stay with the freighter, make sure it stays safe. Everyone else, pick your targets and fire at will. Split... Now!" Breaking up into pairs, the squadron split apart, designating targets. "Vornskr One here. The leader is mine."

"Copy, One, this is Four taking the X-TIE with the funky wing pattern."

"Twelve here, I'll take the DYE with the unbalanced starboard panel."

"Five, you've got company on your tail, juke port!" This from Ten, trying to get a clear shot at the DYE on Five's exhaust.

"Four here, I'm on the Y-wing with the S-foils."

As I dropped my X-wing into a dive which quickly turned into a reverse loop, corkscrewing around, up and back to fall behind the lead Ugly, I saw a fiery explosion out of the corner of my eye. "Eleven here, I got one!"

"Good shot, Eleven."

The lead Ugly was an odd cross between an X-wing, a TIE Interceptor, and a B-wing. It had the fuselage of an X-wing, the wing panels of an Interceptor, and the long single wing of a B-wing, offset so as not to interfere with the TIE-esque side panels. All told, it was quite a fearsome looking craft. But fear had no place in this battle. I thumbed my laser cannons over to dual fire and, targeting the X-TIE-B carefully, leading him just a bit, fired two bursts. The first missed completely, but in dodging it, he flew right into the second burst. As I saw his shields flicker, I switched to quad fire, letting loose another pair of bursts as the X-TIE-B juked to starboard then rolled to port and down, trying to shake me. This time, neither burst connected.

The X-TIE-B dived, side-slipping and corkscrewing, then quicker than I would have thought possible for such a medley of parts, doubled back and came straight for me, firing green bolts of energy into my trajectory. Dodging starboard, I switched back to the more accurate dual fire setting, and loosed three bursts of energy at him, at least one of which connected, as I saw the X-TIE-B's shields flicker and blink out. If I was able to hit him with another burst before he got his shields back up, I stood a good chance of taking him out of the fight for good. "One, you've got an X-TIE on your tail, I'll try to get him." I recognized the voice of Vornskr Five, Kylu Galarhn, a newer member of the squadron. Sparing a glance at my craft's scanners, I noticed a blip on Nine's tail. "No, stick with your wingmate, Seven. I've got this."

Now unable to take the shot I needed at the lead Ugly, I dived, switching to evasive tactics. Corkscrewing down, then snapping into a quick barrel roll to starboard, I nosed the fighter down halfway through the roll, now effectively going up, coming around under the trailing Ugly before the pilot could react. Squeezing off two bursts on dual fire, they both connected with the X-TIE's starboard hexagonal wing panel, blowing bits of wing into space, and maiming the Ugly. Centering the crosshairs of my HUD on the X-TIE's X-wing fuselage, I thumbed over to quad fire and fired a single burst. As bits of shrapnel flew from the ensuing explosion, I said into the comm, "Got me one."

"Good shot, One. "

Looking around quickly, I realized only three Uglies remained, one of them the X-TIE-B of the leader, the rest nothing but shrapnel or the occasional burnt-out drifting cockpit. Even as I headed towards the three remaining Uglies, they turned to flee. Deciding to just let them go, I said as much into the comm. "Let them go. We'll regroup around the _Jaded Bantha_. That was a heck of a fight, and their leader got away. Give me a damage report."


End file.
